Thread by @DanielZarick, This week marks 8 years since I left Twilio and went to [...]

This week marks 8 years since I left Twilio and went to work for myself.

Started as a freelancer (design+strategy), opened my solo studio, then brought on a partner so we could do bigger projects, and finally we started http://Arrows.to

Here's some lessons... (cont'd)

But first, some context. My studio No Small Things billed around $380k last year. That gets paid out to contractors and other places pretty quickly. We did a fraction of the work we could've, because we reinvest our time and money into building our own products (i.e. Arrows).

We never bill hourly (usually weekly or project-based), but it's an easy tool for comparison. My first client was $75/hour in 2013. Now we bill $200 to $250/hour, depending on the project. We also do single day consulting for $2500+/day. We've built websites for >$100k.

P.S. If you ever want help raising your rates, negotiating with a client or job offer, understanding stock options, etc... I love helping here. Just DM me or email [email protected]

Sharing that to help others who are looking for comparisons. We've purposefully stayed small, said no to lots of projects, not hired people full-time, etc... so we can use the client services business as a tool to fund our own projects (Housecraft, Arrows, etc). It is what it is.

Lesson 1: Everything big starts small. Sticking with it matters more than you'll ever imagine when you're younger.

It's why we call our Arrows podcast "Keep Going"... the benefits of just existing and learning compound over time. If you can at all afford to, don't quit.

Lesson 2: Be open and honest with the people you work with. You'll find people do better work when they have all the information you have. Bring contractors in as partners on projects where you can, and they'll give you better work + be easier to work with.

Lesson 3: Bill in weekly increments as much as possible, and give people estimates on number of weeks. Anything more specific is near impossible. Both you and the client will be happier.

Lesson 4: Always give multiple options in project proposals. Usually this is a high and a low option (e.g. Here's what we can do in 4 weeks for $40k & 8 weeks for 80k). It helps them understand the trade-offs. No more "Can you do the same for cheaper?" No. Cheaper = a trade off.

Lesson 5: Incorporate as a business as early as possible, and give your studio a name. Use that name everywhere (emails, invoices, have a website, etc). Even when you're doing solo work, it reiterates to clients that you're also a business with associated costs.

5 (cont'd): It also helps with your personal psychology, to remind yourself that this is a business. Have the confidence to charge the value of the work to the client. It makes things more "real".

Lesson 6: Learn to bring on partners or contractors as soon as possible. This builds on lesson 5, but it's good to practice having other people work on projects, especially doing work that you are capable of doing yourself. Practice billing more.

6 (cont'd): It reminds clients it's a business, not solo thing. FWIW – it was very weird the first time I hired someone to do design work for a client of mine. "But that's what I do?!" Then they did a better job than me and I got over it.

That's life.

Lesson 7: Refer work to your friends as much as possible. I've never been unhappy to help my friends make money. It just feels good.

Lesson 8: Just ship it. Stop overthinking it. You're making it into a bigger deal than it actually is. Stop it. Shut up and ship it.

Lesson 9: Make sure you interview your clients just like they're interviewing you. Nothing sucks more than taking on a bad client, or one where you can't actually help them. Make sure it's a good fit, and if it's not: do your best to nudge them in the right direction.

Lesson 10: Do your best to make your contractors feel happy and respected. Respond to emails quickly. Pay them as quickly as you can (I've submitted payment in <3 minutes more than once). It never goes unnoticed. PAY THEM WHAT THEY'RE WORTH.

Lesson 11: Tell people "thank you!"... seriously it's so easy and so few people actually do it. Tell them when they're appreciated. Reinforce good work. Clients and contractors are so bad at giving appreciation to each other. It breeds resentment. A little goes a long way.

Lesson 12: Send people gifts, as a surprise if you can. I've never received a thank you gift from a client. But this past year I started sending gifts to clients and contractors, especially when they did a great job or the project was difficult. Small token of thanks.

Lesson 13: Send bonuses (when you can afford to) and the project was bigger or more difficult than expected. It's so rare that someone gives you extra money for work you already did. It feels good. It's part of why there's margin in our billable rates.

Lesson 14: Be a fucking human! Laugh! Have fun! Enjoy the work! Be vulnerable! Share what you feel! People are so tightly wound that they forget we're all living right now... act like it.

Lesson 15: Nobody cares that much about your website. Not really. A few studios have amazing websites, and that's great. But most clients will be referral (at least for us, and definitely early on).

Lesson 16: Ask people how they're doing. Just a little check-in. Be genuine in your interest. Try to sense if they're stressed or overwhelmed. Be good to your people! Take care of them! If we're lucky our careers are measured in decades. Not days.

Lesson 17: Take as many random phone calls and meetings as you can, until you get too busy. Just talk to people. Let them know who you are and what you're doing. Maybe you'll get work, maybe just a new idea. I've rarely regretted talking to folks.

Lesson 18: Be excited about what other people are doing. Get hyped for them. Help them out. Intro them to other people who can help. Tweet about it. Share feedback, share praise, share soft/helpful criticism if you can. Be kind and supportive.

Lesson 19: Share your ideas and learnings openly. Share what you're trying and thinking. Don't hold things in. Don't worry too much about what other people think. Be yourself. People can vibe with that or not. That's not your problem.

Lesson 20: Be in it for the long haul. It's your life and career. Think about it in decades. Nothing needs to happen today, this month, this year. Piece by piece, bird by bird. Don't think short-term, just lay the groundwork and keep holding on.

I’ll add more if I think of them... I’ve been asking friends to remind me of stuff I’ve said to them over the years.

Lesson 21: have a shared document (google doc or spreadsheet is easiest) with clients so there’s shared visibility into the entire project. Pull it up on every call. Make sure everybody has the same understanding of what’s going well, what needs a decision, priorities, etc.

Lesson 22: Do a small (2 day to 2 week) exploratory kickoff project if needed. The client seems like a good fit but you can’t properly scope the project because it’s vague/unclear what they need? Offer this as a way to dig into the project, paid, and do further scoping.

Lesson 23: Raise your rates on every project, even just a little (at least have it as a goal). At least try to in some way. It’s good practice to bill more and get comfortable being confident about saying “this is what we charge” even if you haven’t charged that before. It’s ok.

Lesson 24: To get clients, make friends. Maybe not reliable, but it works for us.

We did 2 big projects for Snap in 2020 bc @PatrickMandia & I got drinks in Paris in 2019.

For @OneShot + a REDACTED client, I became buddies with @tylr which led to @iano which led to @goldman.

Lesson 25: Ask people for help directly. People want to help. They just don’t know how. Be specific with what you need, and often it will work. (I got a lot more retweets after this request) https://twitter.com/danielzarick/status/1346557975075250176

https://twitter.com/danielzarick/status/1346557975075250176

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